"Who invented the human heart, I wonder? Tell me and then show me the place where he was hanged."
Lawrence Durrell from Justine

It gets shattered in love, races from fear, and bursts with joy. Anyone who has experienced a broken heart knows that what we call the heart is more than the physical organ in the chest, responsibly beating away.  In Eastern Medicine the Heart is known as the Emperor of the body, having cardinal importance in the body’s many functions, and the other organs of the body will suffer in order to provide their ruler loyal protection.

            Protection may be needed from a deep hurt that was experienced in the past and will not be repeated, if the Heart has anything to say about it.  This kind of protection provides a cage of safety, allowing the Heart to observe the happenings of the world without risking the danger of interacting with it. However, keeping this cage maintained sacrifices time and energy from the other systems of the body.  One may then experience insomnia, headaches, emotional difficulties and digestive problems.

            The Chinese use the word Shen to describe the spirit that resides in the Heart and is responsible for the quality of one’s consciousness.  In the age of computers, email, cell phones, time efficiency, traffic jams it is easy to disengage from the Heart and spend more time in the head.  Repeatedly checking your Twitter account could possibly be the most instant and gratifying method of leaving behind the hurt and sorrow that has made its home inside the Heart.  Anxiety, irritability, and excess worry are the side effects however.  Other forms of therapy, such as acupuncture help the Heart be a safe and inviting retreat for the Shen to rest, regenerate, and blossom.

            Like a small bud full of potential expanding into a flower when the bright sun of the solstice shines, our own thoughts and feelings need to be expressed in an outward direction during the Summer months.  The Heart is in its power at this time of year. In the summer season, the cosmic energy is in alignment for the manifestation of creative ideas we had in spring.  Writing, drawing, dancing, singing, whatever your passion, your expression must proceed from the roots of mere thoughts and ideas to branches of active and tangible materialization.

            When this creative impulse is liberated and set free your question will not be where the inventor of the human heart was hanged, but where he lives now, so that you can grab him and kiss him all over with ferocious abandon.